Cancer community leaders came together at a unique event in Houston on Monday to call on Texas lawmakers to commit to sustained funding for cancer research efforts. Representatives from the American Cancer Society, ACS CAN, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and U.S. Representative Gene Green convened at the MD Anderson Cancer Center to highlight the impact of Congressional funding cuts on work being done in the state of Texas and across the U.S. Federal support of cancer research has put us on the verge of some incredible discoveries, said Dick Woodruff, vice president of federal relations for ACS CAN. We now know the most basic molecular structure of many tumors and with that knowledge we will figure out how to defeat them to shut down their metabolic functioning. Did you know most federal funding for the National Institutes of Health goes directly to research being done in the states? In fact, more than $1 billion went to research institutes in Texas in 2010. The event at MD Anderson highlighted specific groundbreaking projects at the center that could be affected by funding cuts. It was a large success - staff from five congressional offices attended and reporters from Houston based ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates covered the event. Check out the Houston Chronicle op-ed and the Houston Chronicle editorial for more.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.